Down the Rabbit Hole
by RosewhiteSnowred
Summary: Emma, Rebecca, and Lyssa were relaxing until their picnic suddenly fell down a hole. Now they're stuck in the land of hearts as not one but three separate outsiders. Follow their adventures throughout the land of hearts and the lives they make there. OCxElliot OCxBlood OCxBoris
1. Chapter 1

Hey guys, now I know most of my other fics aren't great or aren't finished, however this one is entirely written out already, on paper. Which means I just have to transcribe it and post it here. I hope you all like this and I'd love some reviews because even though the entire thing is written out I'd love to hear what you think and what suggestions you might have because if I like your suggestion enough I might just incorporate it. I'm aiming to update every two weeks, but it might not be on the same day every two weeks.

Anyway, I don't own any of the characters from Alice in the country of hearts/clover/joker/diamond that show up in this fic. As for any of the oc's that I have, any relation they may have to anyone is purely coincidental.

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I sat on the picnic blanket, listening to my friends as well as my music; it was fine though as Lyssa was on her Ipad and Rebecca was on her 3ds. We were content with our small talk, little pieces of conversation stringing together randomly. I listened to Ariel and her wish for a different world, and half wished for the same thing. To go out on an adventure, meet strange people, learn new customs. I always wanted to travel, but never alone. I wouldn't want to leave my friends; I could never leave them behind. They would hold everything that was familiar, that was home, no matter how strange things got.

I lay back on the soft blanket to stare up at the blue skies above and suddenly felt like I was falling. A scream from Lyssa told me it wasn't my imagination; we really were falling, picnic and all. I stared up to see a hole of sky, and dirt walls quickly rising around us. We were falling at an alarming rate, so fast that no matter how far down we fell, we would probably die on impact. Well, goodbye world, it was nice knowing you. Goodbye Mike, goodbye Leo, goodbye Mom and Dad. I don't want to die. I started to sit up, trying to have one last glance at my friends before death claimed us, but everything blacked out.

Upon waking I saw blue skies above, and felt the soft blanket beneath me again. Perhaps it had all been a dream, yeah, that made the most sense. "What the heck just happened?" Lyssa asked. Okay, so, not a dream. Calm down Emma, breath, it will be alright. "No clue" Rebecca replied. I sat up slowly to see Lyssa looking around at our new surroundings. Clearly we were on concrete or stone and above the tree line since I couldn't see anything else, besides a doorway. I reached for my soda bottle, downing the last of it to try and calm my nerves. It tasted slightly off, but since my mind was going a mile a minute, I didn't stop to question it.

Finally I stood up, the last of us to find her footing. Lyssa was circling around the rooftop, sipping her soda while Rebecca stood still looking over the ledge. With out thinking I walked over to Rebecca first and looked around.. In the distance I could make out a large Ferris wheel in one direction, and the top of a castle in the other. "Where are we?" I voiced, looking down to see just how far off the ground we were. Immediately I regretted this decision as my glasses slid off my face and plummeted several stories down to the ground. Well, that was brilliant. I really needed those, unable to see three feet from my face clearly; I was in no shape to go exploring without glasses on.

"Well, that was a brilliant plan." Lyssa muttered sarcastically. "I don't think Emma meant to do that." Rebecca replied. Well no shit Rebecca, who would purposefully lose the glasses they so desperately need. "I need to go grab those" I said. "Why, they're probably wrecked?" Lyssa replied. "They might be somewhat intact. I need as much help to see as possible." I answered, walking over toward the door, tripping twice on my way there, just barely staying on my feet. "I'll go with to make sure she doesn't die." Rebecca said, jogging after. Well, I suppose that would help, since there are probably a lot of stairs on the way down. "Besides, maybe we'll find somewhere to get food or someone who knows where we are"

"Fine, just don't die and be back by sundown okay. I'll see if there's anything here we can use in the mean time." Lyssa said flipping her near white hair over her shoulder. I smiled in her general direction before pulling the door open. Yep stairs, there were a lot of stairs. My feet hurt just looking at them; god was today a bad day for wearing wedges. Rebecca held onto my wrist for the entire walk down, the entire, slow and painful walk down. After a while I just sat down and scooted my way down the tower, which probably meant that my rear end was covered in dirt, but I really care. Rebecca said nothing of complaint and took my whining with a grain of salt, telling me to quiet down because we'd be there soon. She was always like that, tough but sweet. She was kind of like a mother, but cool enough to just be a friend. When we finally got to the bottom we heaved the door open and began our search around the tower for what became of my glasses. Being as blind as I was Rebecca did most of the searching. I kept closer to the tower while she took the farthest ring, we circled, staring down at the ground, and getting closer with every lap. "Found them" Rebecca called. I jogged around the tower to where she stood and looked down at the ground. That sight hurt my heart. The poor glasses were mangled beyond repair; they were bent and the glass was broken. I sighed sadly, picking them up. "Well, I don't think they're of any use." I lamented. "No, you're pretty much blind." Rebecca agreed. Well this is some serious bull.

I looked up and around us at the area. There was a small town around us, I think, and a path that headed away from it. "Want to go that way?" I asked pointing toward the path. "Sure Emma, might as well" she replied. We walked down the path, Rebecca sipped the last of her mountain dew. The path was dirt, and surrounded by trees for as far as the eye could see, though with how thick the trees were, that wasn't very far. After about fifteen minutes of walking I could see a gate with gate keepers, well blue and red blurs, through the trees, though, the two looked awfully young for the job just from the size of the blurs compared to the blurry fence. I frowned but followed the path as it curved. Once getting a good look at the axes they wielded, I was ready to turn tail and head for the hills, but Rebecca pushed forward, stopping five feet from the boys. "Excuse me" she began.

"Halt intruders" The one dressed in blue said. "We aren't trying to get in, so we aren't intruding" Rebecca rebutted. The twins, because they looked nearly the same, save for the color swap of red to blue, looked to each other before looking back. "Trespassers" The one in red corrected, as both readied their weapons. "We weren't trying to trespass; we're just lost because we aren't from around here." I managed to say, quick as it may have been. Both lowered their weapons. "Not from around here." Red repeated. "OUTSIDERS" Both exclaimed excitedly. "We've never seen an outsider before" Blue gushed, "much less two" Red continued. I didn't know what was so special about being an outsider, but if it meant the boys were hugging us, instead of threatening to kill us, I was cool with it. In fact I was loving this outsider thing at the moment, because those axes looked even more wicked sharp up close. "We're Dee and Dum. Dee wears blue, and I wear red" Dum explained. "Um, I'm Emma, and this is my friend Rebecca." I introduced. "So would you mind telling us where we are?" Rebecca asked sweetly. "Yeah, you're in the country of hearts, though right now you're at Hatter Manor." Dee said. "And we're the gate keepers of Hatter Manor." Dum continued. Well what an odd name for a manor. I mean, do hatters live here, is it owned by a man named Hatter, is it a group caller Hatter, if so why choose that name? I was about to ask them something when another voice, aggravated and deep, yet surprisingly nonthreatening called out.

"What the hell are you maggots doing?" I turned around to see two older men. One was bigger all around, about a head taller than the second with long rabbit like ears to make him seem even taller. The other had a cane, a top hat, and looked all around dapper as fuck. Both eyed us carefully, one with clear hostility , the other with barely suppressed boredom. "We were talking to the outsider ladies" Dum answered haughtily. "Yeah, stupid chicken rabbit" Dee taunted. Rabbit-ears flared with anger at the name. "How many times have I told you, don't call me that, midgets" He raged. Well, he clearly has a bad temper, best not to piss him off. Dapper-as-fuck walked closer to us, inspecting us with new curiosity. Rebecca automatically stepped in front of me. The gesture clearly didn't go unnoticed.

"Feisty one aren't you? Tell me, are you both really outsiders?" He asked, paying no real mind to Rebecca's defensive stature. "If outsider means we don't come from here, than yes, we're outsiders" I muttered. Dapper-as-fuck nodded to this statement. "Well, I suppose we can take you in then." He said motioning for the twins to open the gate. "Yeah, thanks, but no thanks, we have a friend to get back to" Rebecca challenged. Dapper-as-fuck turned to Rabbit-ears and nodded, no sooner did I question this action, than Rabbit-ears pulled out a rather beautiful gun. "My dear that was more of an order than a request; usually the penalty for trespassing is death. I've decided that you're interesting enough to keep around. If you'd rather take the other option than be my guest." He explained. Rabbit-ears took another step forward and my natural response was to back up, since the gun was now close enough for me to see just how beautiful it really was, and understand just how deadly it was at that distance. However, my name has never been Grace, and I hit into a rock. I felt the whole world start moving around me, my arms reaching into air to find a grip.

Rabbit-ears other hand grabbed my wrist, yanking me to a stop. At least I had that going for me. I'd hate to fall over in these wedges, last time I fell in wedges I broke my foot. He pulled back with all his weight, pulling me all the way back up and causing me to stumble into his chest. "Geez, can't you walk?" He asked in an irritated tone while pushing me back. "Not too well without my glasses." I conceded. That seemed to take him off guard because he just turned to look at Dapper-as-fuck. "Well Elliot, I suggest you carry the young lady inside, lest she trip and hurt herself while walking across the grounds." Dapper-as-fuck stated. Rabbit-ears sighed and leaned down. I felt my knees get knocked out from under me and my back hit his arm as he pulled me up toward his chest. God, this was embarrassing being held bridal style by a guy who, less than a minute ago, had a gun pointed to your face.

Dapper-as-fuck looked over to Rebecca. "Now then, I suppose you'll be more willing to follow?" He asked. I'm pretty sure she glared at him, but I couldn't really tell. I know I would be glaring if I were her. Slowly she started walking toward the open gates. Rabbit-ears started walking and my arms naturally wrapped around his neck to keep from falling. I had a strong fear of falling, probably because I did it so much. It didn't change how embarrassing this felt, being this vulnerable. I hated being carried, my safety in the hands of someone else. It was even worse because I was sure that Rabbit-ears didn't really like me. Soon we reached the doors which automatically opened to reveal the inside of the mansion. Even with as little vision as I had I could tell that it was beautiful inside. There was carpeting on the stairs, hardwood floors, tapestries, it looked like a Victorian mansion.

When I felt my body lower I could tell that was Rabbit-ears way of telling me that he was putting me down. I let go and slid to the ground though rather ungracefully and needing to use him as support much more than I liked. As soon as I was safely on the floor Rebecca grabbed my hand. "Wonderful, you there maid, take them to rooms in the left wing, then get them fitted for some clothing, use hostile force if they resist, but try not to kill them." Dapper-as-fuck stated. The maid curtsied and pulled out a small handgun. "Up the stairs ma'am and take a left when you get to the top." She stated. Rebecca growled, but I tugged her along. Soon she took the lead as we made our way down the hall. Even the hallway was pretty ornate, with portraits and vases along the way. After a bit of walking the maid stopped us and motioned to a door. "A room for one of you, whichever of you wants it." She stated.

Seeing that Rebecca wasn't moving I hesitantly opened the door and looked inside. It appeared there was a vanity and a four poster queen sized bed. There was also a full length mirror, and a closet. It was a decent room a little small and bare, but overall rather nice. Oddly though there was another door on the wall. I slowly approached the door and opened it. It was a small room with a door on the other side. Stepping in, it became clear that this was a bathroom, or rather a powder room since it had no shower or bath. It was nice, with a large sink and larger mirror, and a rather nice toilet as far as toilets go. Yet the door on the other side held my curiosity as to what was over there. Perhaps it was a linen closet, or perhaps another bedroom, or even an office area, though that would be rather odd. Though curiosity killed the cat, satisfaction brought it back, and I was certain I would be satisfied by whatever I found.

Pushing the door open it appeared to be another bedroom, there was a large bed, violet drapes, a desk, and a small bookshelf. It had a nice carpet, though I couldn't really make out the pattern of it. The room appeared very lived in, seeing as the bed was a mess, and there were clothes falling out of the closet. Whoever lived here was simple, messy, and hardworking. I liked that personality at least, so I wouldn't mind living next to them. However the masculine scent that the room possessed did worry me a little worried. I would be sharing a powder room with a man. I hope you can lock the door from inside the powder room. As I walked back in and closed the door I found that yes indeed they locked from the powder room side.

With that mystery solved, I turned around and left back through the powder room. Seeing my room again, I could tell that my drapes were much thinner, and my bed was smaller than that of my companions. With my final assessment I left the room, returning to the hallway. The maid was down the hall with Rebecca, who had just come out of that room. I scurried down the hall to catch up to them.

"Now that you both are situated, Master Dupre has asked that you both get fitted for clothing. Follow me." She stated walking back down the hall. I followed obediently, while Rebecca lagged a bit behind. We went down to the right wing of the manor, which was much plainer than the left. Obviously this was where the servants lived. The maid turned a corner and opened a door, ushering us both in. Inside were two other maids that looked very similar to the first. Yet while the first had strawberry blond hair the other two had dishwater blond, and sandy blond hair. I stood, waiting for instructions, not wanting to do anything that would upset the gun wielding servants. "Miss, come stand over here." Sandy said, motioning me to come over to a little platform. Rebecca went over to the other side and we both got up onto the platforms.

I followed Sandy's instructions as she took all of my measurements. "Well, this isn't so bad" I said. I'm positive I received a glare from Rebecca, even if I could see it. "Not bad, we're being held captive, Lyssa is on her own somewhere, and we don't even know where we are." She sniped back at me. "It could be worse, they didn't have to give us such nice rooms, they don't have to give us new clothes, or clothes that actually fit well. I think for the situation we're in it could be much worse." I replied. "Whatever, I'm still worried about Lyssa." Rebecca stated. "I am too, but there's nothing we can do about it. If we act cordial and pleasant perhaps they will allow us out to go find Lyssa." I turned to look at Sandy and smiled. "I apologize for my friend's attitude my name is Emma Owens and my friend here is Rebecca Roberts. We got separated from our friend Lyssa Connor, whom she is incredibly worried for considering she is the youngest of us three and the least capable of protecting herself." I stated.

"Oh, that's all well and fine Miss Owens. Your friend will probably be perfectly well off on her own, everyone loves an outsider." Sandy stated. "Well, since we're being acquainted may I ask your names?" I asked pleasantly. Sandy stared at me for a moment before setting down her measuring tape. "My, my name is Anna, Miss" She said, her voice trembling. "My name is Mary" Strawberry said quietly. "Jill" The last stated, just above a whisper. I suppose that these women weren't asked such a question very often, which was highly disconcerting, hinting at a high level of disregard to the working class in, well I suppose the land of hearts from what Dee and Dum had said. "Well it's a pleasure to meet you, you all are being very kind to us." I stated as I stepped down from the platform.

"Well Miss, may I ask what sort of clothing you would prefer to wear?" Anna asked. "Hm, dresses with petticoats, bloomers, stockings, I'm okay with either corsets or braziers, I'd prefer the dresses between mid thigh and mid calf and sleeves can be any length," I stated. If I was getting a new wardrobe for free, I might as well get things exactly as I wanted, unlike back home where finances wouldn't cover my tastes. "I like pants, short or long sleeved shirts. I don't really care beyond that. Except braziers and panties please, I don't do bloomers and corsets" Rebecca said. Of course our taste in clothing was vastly different. I was totally okay with this, and so was she. She just didn't like dresses and frills, however if I had the chance to wear a dress every day for the rest of my life I would jump at the opportunity. With my long, soft, black hair, and bright doe eyes, I looked perfect in cutesy dresses. Rebecca on the other hand had brown hair, cropped into a pixie cut, and very fierce looking blue eyes. Aesthetically she did best in pants. Not to mention the height difference, the girl had me beat by a good four inches, and I was two inches taller than Lyssa.

"My how different the two of you are. Much like Master Dupre and Mister March. It is very pleasant though." Mary stated as Jill and Anna cleaned up. "Now, I suppose I should show you around to all of the amenities that will be offered to you during your stay at our manor." I turned and smiled at Rebecca who followed Mary out of the room silently. We followed her back downstairs and toward the back of the mansion. "Now all of the rooms in the right wing are servants quarters, in the left wing are the role holders rooms, meeting rooms, offices, and another room that only Master Dupre, Mister March, and Mister Villier are allowed to go into. The armory is on the main floor, as well as the laundry room, the linen room, the kitchen, dining room, pantry, and the bath" Mary explained. "Er, you mean there is only one bath?" I questioned. "Well, yes and no, the servants have a communal shower room in our wing, so we don't use the actual bath much, but Master Dupre, Mister March, Mister Villiers, and the Bloody twins use the bath quite frequently." She said leading us down toward the left wing of the first floor. A set of double doors stood there, a staircase just a few feet away. "That staircase leads up to the left wing, Master Dupre and the others use it frequently to come down here. I suppose you will being doing so as well now." Mary stated, though that last part seemed more to herself than us. She opened a door and let us walk in.

This room was rather large, on one side was a wall of open cabinets with baskets in them. Two benches sat in the middle of the room. On the other side was a wall of showers, six in all. Near us was a shelf of towels and to the other side was a basket of used towels. "It looks like a japanese bath, first you shower, then you bathe. You put your clothes in those baskets, right?" I looked to Mary who simply nodded. "Wonderful of you to know Miss, the bath is also exquisite" She stated opening the door on the other side of the room. I looked inside, the bath looked huge, and the room was rather steamy. As I was admiring the room as best as my poor eyesight would allow I was yanked back out of it. "Emma" Rebecca hissed at me, okay clearly she was a little upset.

"Um, what's the problem now?" I asked. "The guy" She stated. Okay, now there must have been something wrong with her. "What guy?" I questioned. "Mister Villiers was in the bath, he didn't seem to notice you though Miss." Mary explained. I blinked and nodded in understanding. "Oh, with my hawk like vision it was silly of me not to have seen him" I stated with as much sarcasm as I could muster before pointedly looking at Rebecca. This curbed her anger immediately. "Oh, oh yeah, I just, I forgot" She said, clearly embarrassed about having nearly yelled at me. "Well, since this is over, maybe we could visit the kitchen, I'm starved" I stated. "We were at a picnic right before we got here." Rebecca stated. "And after the hour or two we've been here, and everything we've been through, I'd like a snack" I retorted.

"I would be happy to show you both to the kitchen" Mary said leading us back into the hallway. "Maybe we could have some mint tea, or maybe chamomile, darjeeling, or possible chai, even just a simple vanilla would be good, something calming, actually on that thought no darjeeling." I rambled as we headed toward the kitchen. "You and tea, next you'll be asking if the have catnip or dandelion tea." Rebecca joked. "I've had both before, and I did like them." I stated. "Really, I don't believe I've ever had the pleasure of indulging in dandelion tea before." A voice spoke from behind us, a relatively familiar one.

Dapper-as-fuck and Rabbit-ears were standing behind us, obviously having turned down this way. Dapper-as-fuck was looking at me with intrigue in his eyes. "How is it?" He asked, though it seemed like more of a demand. "Well, it has a smooth, almost sweet and earthy taste but a slightly bitter after taste, dandelion root is more earthy and bitter than the flowers and leaves." I stated, though I hadn't had it in awhile and couldn't describe it perfectly. A thoughtful look crossed his face before he nodded to himself. "You have a love of tea, correct miss…" He trailed off, realizing that he hadn't yet asked Rebecca and I's names. "My name is Emma Owens, and this is Rebecca Roberts. And yes I do happen to love tea, though if I had to say what type is my favorite, I simply couldn't name just one." I stated. "A pleasure to be formally acquainted. I am Blood Dupre, the head of the hatter family. This is Elliot March, my right hand man." He introduced. I curtsied and turned to Rebecca who simply nodded in acknowledgement.

"Now if the two of you wish to have some food, and promise to be on good behaviour, then you may join us for tea." He offered. While I wasn't entirely fond of these men, and Rebecca straight up hated them, behaving and getting good food was a good option here, especially considering that we hadn't a clue what would happen if we decided on the other option. "We would love to accompany you for tea Mister Dupre." I said. I could feel Rebecca glare at me, but she said nothing else, probably having come to the same conclusion, but still unhappy about it. He nodded, approving of my more demure nature and took the leading taking us not into the dining room, but instead outside into the garden. It was night outside, but I could have sworn that it was noon when we walked into the building. Then again it had been nearly three when we fell from our picnic. Still it shouldn't be this dark.

He sat at the head of the table and Elliot sat on his left with each twin taking up residence next to the, um, hare. So I took the seat across from Elliot and next to Blood so that Rebecca could have some fair distance from them. She didn't look particularly pleased with me sitting there but at least didn't protest verbally. Maids and man-servants set the table, mainly with sweets. One set a decent sized carrot cake off a little to my left something which I was incredibly happy for. I'd always loved carrot cake, even when I was little. Mom mom used to tell me the story about how I once ate so many carrots that my cheeks turned orange. Needless to say I have loved carrots and carrot based dishes, since I was little.

Once everything was set and the tea was poured Blood started the tea party by taking the first sweets, a few scones. Elliot almost immediately grabbed the carrot cake, pulling just out of reach. I know I pouted, I might have even whimpered, but it quickly drew his attention to my outstretched hand, grasping for the cake. "Do you want some?" He asked. I gave him my best puppy face and nodded, pulling my arm back to me. Elliot quickly cut a section of the cake off, quite more than I could actually eat, and placed it on my plate. I smiled at the sentiment and dug into the cake happily A small smile spread across Elliot's face before he starting eating himself. Even Rebecca started eating after awhile.

"May I ask a few questions?" I asked after awhile. I looked over to Blood and saw him nod. "So what's it like in the Land of Hearts?" I asked. Blood set down his cup. "There are four territories, three of which are in a constant power struggle. The Amusement Park, the Castle of Hearts, and us, the Hatter Manor. The last territory is the neutral Clock Tower surrounded by clock tower plaza." Blood explained. So we had shown up on top of the Clock Tower and walked to the Hatter Manor. "Why did it seem like noon before we entered the manor, and it was perfectly light when I checked out my bedroom, but it's now as dark as midnight?" I asked. "The time in this world change erratically. There are three time periods, day, evening, and night sometimes one may drag on forever, or may last only a short time." Blood explained calmly. "So what are we going to do while we're here?" I asked. Blood smirked at me. "You could make yourselves useful and work as servants. It would help us to trust you faster." He stated.

"Will I have to wear the maid uniform if I decide to help?"

"While you are working, but you can wear any of your dresses when you are off the clock"

"If we prove to be trustworthy would we get weapons?"

"Yes, but that will take a few weeks, and if you decide to stay in our fair manor."

"Would I be able to get a new pair of glasses since I'm half blind without them?"

"Yes, it may take awhile as well, since I would probably send Elliot with you into town, so whenever he has free time enough to take you out."

I nodded, pretty content with the answers I received. If nothing else, Blood was honest with us, and that was what made this bearable. I turned to look at Rebecca who still looked incredibly displeased. I frowned slightly at the sight. "Come now Dear, cheer up a bit. Think on the positive, like the little Sweetheart here." Blood stated. Rebecca glared at him. "Oh, my apologies, I forgot how much of a blessing it was to be held against your will in a strange place, by strange men while your younger friend is off alone in a strange land all by herself doing who knows what." She growled. I shrunk away from the pure anger in her tone. Blood rose from his seat and leaned over me. "No, you are being protected in a strange land, by men who promise to not hurt you as long as you behave well, If you want we can go get your friend. I don't have to provide you with nice bedrooms, I don't have to provide you with good food, I don't have to provide you with nice clothing, I don't have to give you free reign to roam the manor at your leisure. I could have ended you at the gate. I never much cared for Outsiders, despite the fact that everyone is suppose to be enamored with Outsiders." He stated in a deadpan. I sat there for a bit, the thought that these people were mafia again ramrodded it's way to the front of my mind. Rebecca sighed and picked up her teacup. "Sorry" She said curtly. Blood stood up straight and sat back down.

"Well, um, thank you for taking us in and providing us with everything. And thank you for answering all of my questions." I said softly. "You're very welcome Miss Owens" He replied with a soft smile. The door behind us opened and I turned to see a teenage boy with mouse ears, half of his face concealed behind his bangs, and a very nice outfit on. He looked at Rebecca and I questioningly before looking at Blood. "Outsiders, Pierce. Their names are Emma Owens and Rebecca Roberts." He explained. The teen's face spread into a wide grin. He was just so adorable, especially with the way that his ears twitched. "Ah, it's a pleasure to meet you both, chu~" He said. Oh my god, he has a speech impediment that's just so adorable. "It's wonderful to meet you as well Pierce, um, may I hug you?" I asked tentatively. His eyes lit up immediately as he all but ran over and tackled me into an embrace.

"Of course, chu~. you can hug me anytime you want, chu~. I love hugs and I don't get them very often especially from pretty girls much less Outsiders, chu~" He ranted cuddling me. I swear every 'chu~' just made me squee a little more inside. After several minutes he let go and went to sit down on the other side of Rebecca. "Pierce is the last of the role holders of Hatter Manor." Blood explained. "And what is a role holder?" I asked. "A role holder is one who holds significance in the game which everyone must participate in. Everyone who isn't a role holder is either a faceless, or an Outsider like you two and your friend." He stated plainly. I nodded, still confused, but took the answer as is. The tea party ended when the time period switched to evening, and Blood allowed Rebecca and I to go off to bed.

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Again tell me what you think. Especially if there are grammar issues, I do have a beta who reads but her punctuation isn't that great. So pointing it out or clarifying something would be greatly appreciated.


	2. Chapter 2

So this is the second chapter everyone, we get more from Emma and we get to see Lyssa again. Again, I hope you choose to review and I'll work on putting up the next chapter as soon as possible. I don't own heart/clover/joker/diamond no kuni no alice. Also remember I will take suggestions if anyone has them.

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Six days had passed and I was allowed to work in the kitchen. I loved baking so getting to bake the treats for our tea party was a very fun experience for me, especially getting compliments from the boys for whatever dish I had tried out. My Ipod had yet to die on me, even after six days of use, and by the way it's very hard to calculate days when the time periods just change. I just took it as blessing and kept going. I found out that Elliot had the room next to mine, but he had really warmed up after the carrot cake encounter. I loved making dishes with carrots just because it made Elliot happier, and made me pretty happy too. It even made Rebecca happy because Blood hated the sea of orange I made.

Bored for the time being I decided to listen to music in my room and sing along. Laying out on my bed, or rather sprawled across the covers, I happily sang along to random disney songs. I was half way through Colors of The Wind when Elliot's figure appeared in my vision. I turned my head to look at him more fully and pulled out one ear bud. "Hey Elliot, was I singing too loud for you?" I asked. Elliot quickly shook his head. "No, no I just, I heard you singing and I wanted to tell you that it's really pretty. I was going to go to sleep, unless you want to go out now?" He suggested. In these past six days Elliot had only gone to his room for sleep three times, I wasn't going to rob him of an opportunity to get some well deserved rest. I calmly shook my head. "No, go to sleep, I can survive without glasses, you can't survive without sleep. Do you want me to quiet down for you to sleep?" I asked sitting up. "If you don't get too excited with your songs than you can go ahead and keep singing. It would be nice to fall asleep to." Elliot said with a pleasant smile. I nodded and layed back on my bed. I made sure to sing the most pleasant disney songs until I decided to go bathe.

I walked down the small staircase that led down to the bath, a stack of pajamas in my arms just waiting to be put on after my bath. The room was empty when I walked in so I quickly undressed, set my towel on the hook outside of the fourth shower from the first set of doors, and went inside. I'd claimed the shower as my own and left all of my shower supplies, so wonderfully granted to me by Blood, inside it for anytime use. It was also the shower with the tallest shower head, so it was also used by Elliot. I suppose he just took my stuff out when he showered and put it back afterwards.

The shower was nice and hot, just enough to burn a bit. I scrubbed until my skin was red and sang happily, especially while I waited on the conditioner to set in. "God help the outcasts, hungry from birth, show them the mercy they don't find on earth. God help my people, we look to you still. God help the outcasts or nobody will." I sang and twirled in the shower.

"I ask for wealth, I ask for fame, I ask for glory to shine on my name, I ask for love I can possess, I ask for god and his angels to bless me" A lower octave from the rest of the song, it seemed only fitting.

"I ask for nothing, I can get by. There's so many people less lucky than I. God help my people, the poor and down trod. I thought we all were the children of God. God help the outcasts, Children of, God"I sang before stepping back under the water to rinse off my hair. Once that was finished I turned off the water and opened the screen. The plush towel was touched to my face and wrapped up my hair before I opened the second set of doors into the bath. It was empty and I got into the large bath. The water was just as warm as the shower had been. It was pleasant to relax and stretch out.

I sat and sang some more before getting up to sort of swim around. I wasn't big on swimming, I really wasn't very good. I did however enjoy being in water. The door hefted open and I immediately turned and covered up. Pierce walked in his towel wrapped around his waist. "Um, is it okay if I get in the bath with you, chu~? If it's a problem I'll leave, chu~" Pierce said. I pulled the towel out of my hair and wrapped it around my bust instead, fixing it before turning around completely. "It's fine Pierce, come on in." I invited. He rushed over and jumped into the bath. I laughed happily and settled back down in the bath. Pierce sat down a few feet away from me and stretched out.

"You're really nice, chu~ Most people don't like me, but you wanted to hug me as soon as we met, chu~!" Pierce exclaimed. I chuckled, "Of course I wanted to hug you, you're so adorable, and such a sweetie, I would have hugged Elliot too if he wasn't so intimidating." I stated. "But, I'm a mouse, not a rabbit, chu~ It's different for me." Pierce bemoaned. I rolled my eyes and patted Pierce on the head. "One, Elliot's a hare, not a rabbit, two I was born on the year of the mouse, and I think you're cute." I replied. He looked over to me, pushing his hair out of his eye and smiling softly. "Thank you Emma, thank you so much, chu~ I've never had a friend like you before, chu~" He stated before kissing my cheek. I eeped slightly and backed up a bit. "I, um, sorry, I wasn't expecting that." I stammered out. He blinked, apparently slightly confused but nodded.

"Okay, I can give you kisses later though right, chu~? Just on your cheeks if you would prefer that, chu~" Pierce asked. God this boy was innocent but eager, With Pierce here life was actually pretty cool. After that Pierce used to visit me as often as possible, especially while I was working. He loved taste testing all of my treats, and it was nice to have him as taste tester. Though all of my carrot based dishes were still for Elliot or myself alone, but Pierce shared my love of cheeses.

However on my ninth day I had to go hunt down Elliot since I'd made a carrot cupcake, and Blood was nowhere to be found to suggest a tea party to. It wasn't hard to find Elliot, since he was in his office, even though he didn't even look up when I opened the door. I cautiously walked inside, watching him as he diligently worked on paperwork. A soft smile graced my lips as I silently crossed the room. The sound of the dish being set on his desk was what finally drew Elliot's attention away from his work. He stared at the little cupcake for a few seconds before looking at me. "Is this, for me?" He asked. I nodded and smiled brightly at him. "I figured you'd be happy to taste test my new recipe for carrot cupcakes." I stated. Elliot grinned like a kid in a candy store and peeled off the wrapper before taking large bite. He chewed for a bit, contemplating the taste, before swallowing and beaming at me.

"It's delicious Emma, you're a great baker" He exclaimed standing up. Elliot really was so childish, it was adorable. He was a complicated man, childish at times, dangerous at other, swaying between incredibly observant to completely oblivious. But right now it was his childish glee that had swept me up into his large frame, being held gently yet firmly in a warm embrace. "You're very welcome Elliot, but my feet prefer the ground to the air." I stated. He pulled back, his face now fully visible to me, and only a few inches away. "Ah" He said with a slight blush.

"Elliot, have you seen Emma, Pierce said she was looking for-" Blood said walking in without knocking, seriously how rude. Elliot nearly let me drop from my foot in the air but grabbed me before I hurt my feet and set me down gently. I turned around to see Blood standing there smirking at me. "My deepest apologies for interrupting. I'll leave until you've finished." He said. I rolled my eyes. "You were interrupting nothing more than the eating of sweets, now what do you need from me, sir." I added the last word with sarcasm which only caused his smirk to widen.

"Yes, well, Elliot, your schedule is now free, go take her to get her glasses. You have an entire time period to do this so you might want to both get cleaned up before you go out." He stated. I looked down at my apparel, noting the baking debris on it. I could go for a clothing change, and probably a shower as well considering. With a nod I left the room, returning to my own to pick out an outfit. Going through my closet showed a multitude of colors and designs. I settled on a violet dress with a built in corset, violet and white striped stocking, a white petticoat and bloomers. Anything else I could probably grab when I came back, assuming I had time for that.

With a brisk step I made my way down to the bath and peeled off my current outfit, placing it into a basket next to my pile of clean clothes. With that I bounced into my shower stall and began washing, or rather, began soaking myself head to toe in water before deciding to wash my hair. After that came conditioner that sat in while I washed my body. It was pretty efficient in method, but I still took forever, or at least twenty minutes. All the while I sang broken melodies, random songs, or the occasional chorus. When I finished I turned off the water and opened the curtain to grab the towel, finding a half naked Elliot standing there with his hand clutching the waistband of his boxers.

The mental shock took me a few seconds to process before grabbing my towel and holding it up as cover. Elliot blushed heavily and started stuttering, though I couldn't quite make out the words. "Um, well, shower's free I guess, um, you just gonna shower, or were you planning on a bath?" I questioned, securing the the towel firmly. Elliot cleared his throat and looked away. "I was planning on just a shower for now, since I can't waste this break, um, I'll come get you when I'm done, okay?" He answered. I nodded and stepped out of the shower stall, walking back toward the baskets. I'm sure Elliot removed his boxers, but I didn't look before he got into the shower stall and closed the curtain.

After a few seconds I began drying off as best as I could. My hair always held water much too well, so that would be wet for quite awhile. However the awkward tension in the room could be cut with a butter knife as the only sounds were those of my toweling off and the shower going. "You catch me with a stare, I follow you anywhere, you lead me into temptation. I guess you need to enjoy, I'm like a kid with a toy I'm losing my concentration.

"One kiss from you I'm on fire. Your touch is all I look and you take me higher. You know I couldn't resist, yeah I miss, every time I'm with you, every time that we kiss." I sing softly as I begin to dress myself, the bloomers go on first, than the petticoat. The dress goes on over that, and the stockings go on last. Just as I'm pulling on my second stocking the water shuts off and Elliot's arm reaches out to grab his towel. This could have been more awkward, but I quickly slip on my shoes. "I'll be up in my room, come get me when you're ready to leave." I state. Elliot grunts in understanding and I grab my bundle of old clothes before leaving the room.

Once in my bedroom again I throw the clothing into my hamper and hurry over to my vanity. There is where all of my lotions, perfumes, and hair products are kept. Blood had been nice enough to get me several things after I baked him a red velvet cake. I quickly lotioned my arms, neck and face before pulling my stocking back down to lotion my legs as well. Once that was done I put in leave in conditioner and brushed my hair out. Without the leave in condition it was near impossible to run a brush through my hair while it was still wet. Perfume was used after that before makeup, little accents of it that is, were added. Shimmering lip gloss and mascara were all I usually used since my cheeks already held a natural rosiness. Though currently they were slightly rosier than usual. I could manage well enough though. Going through my accessories I decided on a pair of short white gloves and my white parasol, since it was sunny out, and I had been waiting to actually use the parasol since I had gotten it.

A knock at the door indicated that Elliot had arrived. I opened it to see him standing there nervously. "So, we get to go now?' I asked walking out and closing my door. Elliot nodded. "Though you'll probably still be without glasses for awhile while they fill out your prescription." He stated as we walked down the hall. With his long legs he quickly started leaving me behind and it was all I could do to try and keep up with him. As he hopped down the stairs with ease I had to run to keep up. Again I will state, my name has never been Grace, and it probably never will be.

When I was little I had broken my foot while chasing after my cousin down a flight of stairs. Merely six months ago I fell down the stairs in front of my house and had broken my foot yet again, same foot I might add. On several occasions I have fallen down stairs or off objects that ended with a trip to the emergency room for a head injury. So when I felt myself falling down the stairs after Elliot, I immediately reached out and grabbed the first thing I could. That thing was Elliot who reacted quickly by holding me steady so I could regain my balance. "Slow down please." I said. "Oh" was Elliot's response as he nodded looking a little ashamed for having been responsible for me nearly falling. He held onto my hand as we walked out of the manor and down the lawn.

This made it only slightly difficult to open my parasol, but once it was open I was happily walking beside it, my delicate hand covered almost completely by his bigger and slightly calloused one. Outside was beautiful and very well kept thanks to the ground crews. When we reached the gates Elliot grumbled about the twins slacking off again before leading me out.

This was the first time in over a week that I was able to be outside of Hatter Manor, and I was ecstatic as he lead me down the path toward Clock tower Plaza. My mind flitted through possibilities of what might happen while we were out in town. Finding Lyssa was the number one possibility that came to mind. The breeze was nice brushing through my damp hair and the chirping of birds gave the journey a relaxing mood.

As we neared the plaza the sound of people picked up. The plaza was just as I had remembered it to be, cobble stones with a lot of small shops and houses. I couldn't read any of the signs but I followed Elliot dutifully through the town. "Hey Elliot, could we go to a cafe while we're out?" I asked He looked down at me, thinking for a bit before a huge grin spread across his face. "There's a new cafe that makes carrot souffle I really want to try it." He stated excitedly. "Eh, seriously, I'd love to try some, I'm sure it will taste delicious" I replied. Elliot laughed and twirled me, the two of us playing in the street. I'm sure everyone was looking at us oddly, Elliot, second in command of the mafia, was dancing with a short girl in a pastel dress.

With a bright grin he continued on before stopping at a store. The sign above the door read 'Optometrist', which meant we'd reached our destination. Pushing open the door a woman with long straight hair looked up and smiled. "Mr. March, and this must be Miss Owens. We've been expecting you. The doctor is in his office, just go inside." She said motioning to the door. I opened it and walked inside. There was a short hallway, on either side was a room and behind both was a large room filled with glasses frames. I peered into the room on the left and saw a man sitting in a chair adjusting a glasses machine. "Ah, Miss Owens. We've been waiting for you. Come in and sit down, we'll get started as soon as you're ready." The doctor said. I sat and patiently went through the procedures of the test. It took quite a bit since I wanted to make sure I chose right and wasn't stuck with sub-par glasses.

Once I finished I stood up and stretched to see that Elliot had dozed off while I was busy. "Miss Owens, why not come out and choose your frames?" The doctor asked. I nodded and walked over to Elliot. I set my mouth before deciding to gently tickle his ears. His reaction was delightful as he squirmed to get away before laughing out loud and grabbing my hands. He playfully glared at me and stood up. "So do we leave now?" He asked. I shook my head and walked out of the room, Elliot following. "I need to pick out frames before we go, and I wanted to get your opinion of it first." I said. There were frames of all shapes, sizes, and colors. So many choices, and a person so horrible at making decisions. I grabbed a random pair of glasses and put them on, pink wire frames, rather small. I looked at myself in the mirror before looking over at Elliot. "What do you think?" I asked. He looked me over before taking the glasses away.

"No, I think that one doesn't work." Elliot said looking around at all of the frames. A navy pair with plastic frames and square lens was placed on my face next but was taken off after only a few moments. "Elliot, don't I get a choice in this." I asked with a chuckle. "When I get a few that I like I'll give you a choice." He stated placing a pair of simple black frames with wide slightly oval lens on my face. Elliot scrutinized them for awhile before nodding. "Those are good, but lets look at a few others."

After what felt like forever we got down to four pairs. The black pair, the red pair, the shiny brown pair, and the purple and silver pair. I looked over each one carefully before picking up the simple black ones again and looking at myself in the mirror. They matched my hair and contrasted with my pale skin. Looking at myself in the mirror I smiled at my reflection. "Yeah, I like these, These are the frames." I said, taking them off. The doctor smiled and held out his hand for the frames. I gave them over and the man nodded. "These should be ready in about thirteen to fourteen time periods. Come back to check on them then. Have a nice day Miss Owens, Mister March" The doctor said with a pleasant smile. I smiled back and turned to Elliot who seemed ready to leave.

" Are we still going to that cafe, or are we going straight home so you can sleep?" I asked as we walked out of the store. Elliot looked at me with a look of mild confusion. "I already promised a trip to the cafe, I'm not going to take that away from you now. Besides, I really want to go there myself" Elliot said. I smiled before giggling. "Alright, lead the way my dear sir" I stated. He laughed along with me and led the way down n alley and toward a small back alley garden, in front of a small store. I walked down the short path until we got inside.

The interior was beautiful, Elegant drapes, paintings, and tables. We sat at a table in the corner as I admired the place. After a few seconds a waitress came up. "Ah, A pleasure to have you come visit our little cafe, I'll leave the menus here, We currently have freshly made strawberry lemonade if that interests either of you." She said, I picked up the menu and looked it over. "I'd love some strawberry lemonade." I said. "Regular lemonade if you have it" Elliot replied. The waitress smiled and left. "This is a really nice place Elliot, how did you find it?" I asked as I looked over the menu. "Actually, one of the servants found it and was discussing it with one of the other servants. I overheard them and asked them about that," Elliot stated. I nodded and flipped the page of the menu to see a ginger salad.

"Ah, I'd love to get a ginger salad. Ginger tastes great with carrots," I said looking up at Elliot. The waitress came over with our drinks and smiled at us again. "Are you ready to order, or would you like to wait a little longer?" She asked. I looked to Elliot who set down his menu. "The carrot and ginger soup," he said. "The ginger salad" I stated. The waitress nodded and left. "So Elliot, um, it's a nice day today," I stated awkwardly. Elliot chuckled. "Yeah, it's nice to have a small break" He said. It was clear that he was just as awkward as I was. I giggled at the awkwardness. "So, um, we eat here, and then we head back home?" I questioned. Elliot looked at me with a look of surprise. "Home? You consider the Manor as home?" He questioned. I suppose it was a little soon to be calling the place home since I'd only been there a little over a week. But having lived there for so long it just sort of stuck.

"Yeah home, I mean it is where I live so," I stated before taking a sip of my lemonade.

"I'm glad you consider it home, Blood really went out of his way to make you guys comfortable." Elliot replied

" I know he did, and all the servants are so nice to me, you guys all warmed up to us so quickly," I said.

"Well you're just so nice, even to the faceless. You took everything in stride and were nice from the beginning."

"Well I just figured that I needed to be nice, My mom always taught me to be polite. Besides being impolite doesn't get me anywhere."

"Your foods up," The waitress said coming over with a tray. She set the food down and stood at attention in case there was anything else. "Um, can we order two carrot souffles?" I asked. The waitress nodded and walked off again. "So, are we going home right after this?" I asked. Elliot took a sip of his soup and thought it over for a bit. "We could walk around for a little bit, or buy some things," He suggested. I perked up immediately at that thought. "I'd love to have some new things for my room, like stuffed animals," I said happily.

After that was decided we ate our food and chatted idly, when the souffles came out we ate those, and honestly they were pretty good. Elliot adored it and said that we should definitely come back some time. I agreed and he paid for our light lunch before we left. It was still bright outside and I opened my parasol back up before taking Elliot's hand again. Walking down the street I noticed a girl walking down the street ahead of us with a boy with pink hair, cat ears, and a huge boa. The girl though, despite my horrible vision, was very clearly the girl I had been yearning to see for the last nine days. Her hair was shaded with constant dyeing, black at the bottom, honey gold near the middle, and near white at the top. Without a second thought I squealed and started tugging Elliot to go over.

"Lyssa!" I yelled. Lyssa turned around, wide eyed, before smiling brightly and running over. We embraced tightly, the familiar minty smell that was Lyssa surrounded me, her softness, her hair. It felt so right to have her back. After several minutes we pulled apart to look at each other. "Where have you been, where's Rebecca? Clearly you've been doing well by the state of your clothes" Lyssa questioned. "We ended up at Hatter Manor and they took us in. Rebecca is still there, oh you have to come see her." I gushed. Lyssa hugged me again. "Of course I'm going to visit you idiot, I haven't seen you in forever." She said with a smile laugh.

"So, this is Emma?" Kitty-boy asked. Lyssa turned to look at him and nodded. "Yeah this is my klutzy best friend, the absolutely ravishing Emma. Emma this is Boris, he lives at the amusement park, and his love of puns and riddles rivals our own." She introduced. "Well at least it's no pun-ishment to have him near" I joked. Boris, formerly known as Kitty-boy, barked out a laugh and I curtsied. "So, where did you go?" I asked. Lyssa sighed and shook her head. "It's a long story, mind if I wait until I have Rebecca here as well?" She replied. I nodded and looked back at Elliot. He sighed but smiled slightly. "I guess it's back home than, Boris, are you coming with us?" Elliot asked turning toward Boris. He shrugged and simply followed as we walked along.

"It's so nice to have you back. Oh hey, does your Ipad still work?" I asked. Lyssa stopped for a second before nodding. "It's so weird, what about your Ipod?" She retaliated. I nodded and moved my parasol over Lyssa. After that we chatted happily about nothing on our way back to the manor.

When we came around the bend I could see the twins at the gate. "Dee, Dum!" I called as we got closer. They both waved at me as we got closer. "Big sis, you're back and you brought your friend" They replied. Lyssa smiled widely at them as they opened the gate. "I'm going to stay here for a bit," Boris called as Lyssa, Elliot, and I walked across the lawn. The doors opened as soon as Elliot knocked on them and I closed my parasol. "Blood dear, we're home!" I called out. A minute later both Rebecca and Blood appeared at the top of the stairs. Rebecca gasped and ran down the stairs to embrace Lyssa. Looking between the two I smirked at Blood. "My, my, were we interrupting something?" I joked. Blood stopped on the stairs and smirked at me before I felt a light punch on my shoulder. "Emma!" Rebecca cried. "Hm, pity," I stated shaking my head. Another punch to the shoulder punctuated my statement. I rolled my eyes at her before turning back to Blood who stopped at the bottom of the stairs. "I see you're in a good mood, Sweetheart" He said. "That I am, dear sir. May I ask when we will be having our next tea party?" I asked. "When the next night period comes around, that should give you girls enough time to catch up." He said.

Turning toward Rebecca and Lyssa, I couldn't help but smile at them. "Thank you sir, we'll go hang out" I stated. Rebecca grabbed Lyssa's wrist as we headed off toward our rooms.

* * *

So next chapter will involve the tea party, and soon enough Emma will have the gift of sight again.


	3. Chapter 3

Okay, so I'm so sorry for having taken so long, I lost the paper copy so I had to write this all down from memory, and I had to deal with school so, yeah, not fun. Anyway, I'll get chapter four up sooner than I got chapter three up, and you can yell at me if I don't. I don't own these beautiful boys, if I did there would be a lot different in the game and manga.

* * *

"So after you all left I was left deciding what to do while I waited for you to come back. So I cleaned up the picnic and downed my Dr. Pepper, then I went down the stairs. I almost literally ran in to Julius, the clockmaker, and he told me about the world. The three warring territories and the fourth neutral one which just so happened to be the clock tower. When I told him that you'd left he told me that he'd let me wait there for awhile for you to come back, but that you might not all things considered. So I stayed there for about a day or so before Gowland, the guy in charge of the amusement park, showed up. He was really nice and is apparently good friends with Julius. He decided that he didn't like seeing a girl all mopey and such so he took me back with him. Oh, the amusement park is so fun. There are so many rides and all the workers were so nice to me, the food was also pretty good for amusement park food. They even had funnel cake and cotton candy." Lyssa exuberantly explained, her hands moving everywhere in some attempt to physically convey her feelings..

"Anyway so while there I met Boris and he told me hilarious puns to try and cheer me up, and showed me around the park. We went on ride after ride until I started getting hungry; that's when I had the funnel cake. The amusement park is so huge though that we were walking around for two time periods and still hadn't seen everything. I got so tired that Boris took me back to an unused bedroom. I was allowed to sleep there and Gowland actually made breakfast for me when I woke up, and that man can really cook.

"Every time I got up Boris had a new adventure planned for me, I even got to help fix one of the rides and got to make funnel cake myself. He kept me busy until I was too tired to do anything else and brought me back to the spare room. After my second 'night' I had clothes in the closet, and after my fourth there were stuffies all over the bed that I had won. It just sort of had become my room without me even realizing it.

" So I've been living there recently, but I still visit Julius all the time, and I met Ace, the knight of hearts. He visits Julius all the time too actually, and he's pretty nice and very friendly but he has the absolute worse sense of direction, like he got lost just trying to get to the bathroom in the clock tower. So anyway Boris and I were going shopping today to go look for things to go in my room. Obviously you caught us before we actually bought anything, which is good in it's own way. But so you guys have been here this whole time? What's it been like?" Lyssa asked after finishing her tale.

"Well, we got clothes after we got here, and we work occasionally. I've been allowed to bake for tea parties, and we have a huge bath, like they have in Japan, Elliot and I were out today to get new glasses for me and we decided to stop at a little cafe for carrot souffle" I stated. "Blood also flirts with Rebecca a lot, the twins are a handful, and Pierce is adorable."

"Sounds like you've had an interesting time here, do you plan on staying here at the manor?" Lyssa asked, crossing her legs. I shrugged and turned to look at Rebecca who merely sighed. "If Emma wants to stay then I can't just leave her here by herself. But I promise to visit you more often Lyssa" She said. I fell back on the floor and stared at my ceiling. "I want to stay here, it's nice to be here, I get a nice bed, I get food, on top of that I at least have to stay until I get my glasses." I stated. Lyssa nodded to the statement. "That's fine, I'm staying at the amusement park, I like it there."

Suddenly a knock at the door brought our attention away from our small talk. I sat up before standing up completely and walking over to the door. Opening it revealed my favorite young mouse boy. Pierce beamed at me and hugged me, placing a kiss on my cheek. "Emma, since it's night time out Blood sent me to come get all of you for the tea party, chu~" Pierce stated. I giggled at him and nodded. "Of course Pierce, let's go to the tea party than." I replied as Rebecca and Lyssa got up to follow us. I grabbed onto Pierce's hand and walked down the hall happily, reaching out to take Lyssa's hand with my free one. It was a short walk out to the garden where Elliot, Blood, the twins, and Boris were already sitting. I automatically took my seat next to Elliot and Lyssa took a seat across from me and next to Boris, while Rebecca sat next to her and across from Elliot, her normal seat to the right of Blood. A few maids set down food on the table, of course setting the carrot cake between Elliot and I. Blood had designated the seat next to Elliot as mine for the simple fact that the two of us enjoyed carrot cake and he hated it, so it was simply put between us.

"Well my dear, I would have thought that you would take this opportunity to sit farther away from me." Blood purred to Rebecca. Rebecca blushed and turned to look the other direction. "I've gotten used to sitting here so I sat down without thinking, sir" She protested, the last word dripping with sarcasm. Blood smirked, mirth lighting up his eyes. "Of course Dear, and how is the little Darling doing?"He asked looking over to Lyssa. Lyssa looked up toward me and then Rebecca. I smiled reassuringly at her and nodded faintly. Blood's naming system was weird but I had already gotten used to it. Slowly she turned back to look at Blood and smiled half-heartedly. "Um, I'm doing fine." Lyssa stated softly. Blood nodded, seemingly fine with her response, before turning his attention to me. "Now Sweetheart, how was your time out on the town?"

I smiled pleasantly at Blood. "I had a wonderful time, perhaps we could go out more?" I asked. Blood laughed and picked up his tea cup. "Of course Sweetheart, you're free to come and go as you please because of your good behavior. Next time you can go pick out things for your room or visit the little Darling." Blood replied. Well, isn't that just what being good gets you, how lovely it would be to go off and wander around, getting to see the amusement park where Lyssa lives. Not to mention I would be able to see perfectly soon, or rather as soon as I got my glasses. I went back to eating as small talk continued.

"Hey, what day is it do you suppose?" Lyssa asked after a few minutes. I thought for a second before setting down my fork. "Well, what day was it when we left?" I replied. "August seventh" Rebecca stated. I nodded at that. "Well, it's been about nine days I think so seven plus nine is sixteen. It's August sixteenth." I stated. "Things are so weird in your world big sis" Dee stated. "Can you tell us more about it?" Dum asked. "Well, we don't really know what would interest you since our world is very boring. We don't have people with animal ears, an it's rather frowned upon to carry weapons around all the time. When people get killed it makes the news." I stated. "Yeah, time also flows in a rather linear progression from morning to noon, evening, and night." Lyssa continued. We stayed on the topic for only a short while, having the twins determine that our world was very, very odd. When the conversation reached a lull Blood, who was ever the gentleman, did his best to entertain all of his guests and invited Lyssa to stay as long as she'd like. Of course she wanted to sleepover so after the tea party ended. Rebecca and I decided to introduce her to the bath.

"You can borrow some of my clothes Lyssa, they may be a bit big, but since their just pajamas you'll be fine." I said, opening my closet to pull out night clothes of my own. I settled on a short night dress that was made of lavender silk. She pulled out a slightly longer one, cotton, with sleeves, that was in a powder blue. As we were leaving I grabbed my lotion off my vanity. After that we headed down to the bath. I was still plenty clean from my shower so I simply undressed and wrapped a towel around me. Being as meticulous as I was with putting my hair up and properly folding my clothes it took nearly four minutes before I was set to get in. Walking in I was greeted by steam which clung to me quickly. With a twirl I danced around the edge until reaching the usual spot I got in at. Slowly I lowered into the water, which smelled faintly of vanilla today.

Just as I was starting to relax a bit Lyssa and Rebecca walked in. "This place really is amazing!" Lyssa exclaimed. I rolled my head up and smiled. "Yeah, I have to admit that this is my favorite part of living at the manor, besides the new wardrobe." I stated as the other two eased their way into the water. Once we were all settled Rebecca decided to bring up a new subject.

"So, how are we going to get home?" The question actually startled me. At this point I didn't think we could go home, I'd honestly thought I was dead and this was some sort of after life, that or I was in a coma and this was the fantasy world I'd come up with. Why I would purposely torment myself with an eternal half vision I don't know, but I certainly didn't believe there was a way to leave. "I, I don't think we can" I stated softly. Lyssa looked at me and bothered her bottom lip. "I'd sort of thought that too, I mean, it's pretty impossible that we're in this messed up world anyway, right? Though, if we could go home, I'm not certain I would want to leave." Lyssa pitched. Rebecca looked at her with clear betrayal on her face. "You'd stay here, with these people, what about our friends back home. What about the lives we just left behind?" Rebecca nearly yelled. "What about my parents who do nothing but criticize me, what about my sister who's a total bitch, what about my classes that I'm always failing, great life I'm leaving behind." Lyssa retorted.

"Hey guys, come on, remember, we still don't know if we even can leave, arguing over something that might not even be possible is silly." I tried to stop the fight before it actually began. "We're all we have of home anyway, it would be a shame to lose that because of a fight."

Both sighed and settled down. "Let's just try and enjoy ourselves for now and deal with that if and when we get to it" Lyssa muttered. Rebecca nodded. "Right, but we decide as a whole, Whatever decision is made, it has to be unanimous." She stated. Well, though the tension was still a bit thick, at least I could try to go back to relaxing. The room was relatively quiet, and I could feel the mist, the warmth, sinking deep into my frame. "I know you,

I walked with you once upon a dream

I know you,

The gleam in your eyes is so, familiar a gleam

Yet I know it's true

That vision are never all they seem

but if I know you, I know what you'll do,

you'll love me at once,

the way you did once upon a dream"

The song rolled off my tongue, soft and sweet and distracting, Rebecca smiled and Lyssa began thinking of something else to sing next. "A dream is a wish your heart makes,

when you're fast asleep….."

After we'd sung two songs each the doors burst open, startling all of us. Two figures, clearly Dee and Dum, came running in and cannonballed into the bath. After they came in three more figure walked through the doors, most likely Blood, Elliot, and Pierce, all with towels on. "Oh, are we disturbing you?" Blood asked as he sank down into the bath. Now Rebecca would definitely say yes, so I decided to preempt her.

"This is your manor, seeing as we're the guests, we shouldn't complain when you want to use your own things." I replied. Blood nodded to the answer contentedly as the twins began to play fight. "Hey you maggots stop rough housing" Elliot commanded. "Go suck an egg stupid chicken rabbit" Dee replied. "Yeah" Dum continued as soon as he'd surfaced for air. At least I'm pretty sure it was in that order. "Boys, please try and act a bit more grown up" I asked. Dee and Dum stared at me for a second before being engulfed in light. Suddenly where the twelve years olds had been mere seconds ago stood two men, not much older than me. One, though I really couldn't tell the twins apart without them having their uniforms on, now had hair about as long as mine. I bolted up out of the water, barely remembering to hold up my towel. "What, you, just, I, I can't" I said. Blood laughed candidly. "Oh, something we forgot to tell you. We're able to age or de-age ourselves at will" He explained and to prove his point further he aged himself down and appeared to be around the age of the twins now, though he glowed again and looked a might bit older, though not as old as before. Elliot glowed and a certain youthfulness returned to him,

"What age are you all now?" Lyssa asked. "We're eighteen" The twins proudly proclaimed. "Twenty-one" Blood stated. "Eighteen" Elliot chirped. "We only can do this in increments of three years" I nodded to the statement, entirely baffled, before sitting back down. "Will, will you stay like this?" I questioned. Blood cocked his head to the side before nodding. "It does lessen the age difference remarkably doesn't it, Dear" Blood purred looking toward Rebecca who pointedly looked away from him.

After a few tense and rather awkward moments Rebecca decided to leave and Lyssa got out to follow her. With a sigh I sank deeper in for a second before deciding to drag myself out. "Do enjoy yourselves for the rest of your sleepover" Blood stated. I nodded and opened the door, walking back into the changing area.

I grabbed a second towel, my lotion, my underwear and my nightgown before walking into my shower stall. I dropped the soaked towel and dried off, slowly and methodically. Humming a soft tune I attempted to reach every area and dry it completely. After I was sure that I was dry I grabbed the lotion and began slathering it on, massaging it into my skin. "Emma, we're gonna head up to your room" Rebecca announced. "I'll see ya in a bit" I replied as I continued. The door closed, signalling that Lyssa and Rebecca had left so I decided to take my time. After that was done I put on my underwear. While for day wear I preferred corsets and bloomers I was very happy for bras and panties for night wear. After adjusting myself I picked up the nightgown and pulled it over my head. I could have sworn I'd heard something but with the fabric around my ears I couldn't quite tell. By the time my nightgown was all sorted I couldn't hear anything else so I opened the curtain and took a step out, only to process that Elliot was standing there, naked, with a pair of pajama pants in his hands.

"I, uh, I" I stuttered, turning to look away from him. "Oh, I, I thought you'd left already" He stuttered, and from the sounds I heard he probably tried putting his pants on. "No, I was in the shower stall" I replied. "Well I know that now, why were you in there anyway?" He asked his voice slightly higher than usual. "I needed to dry off and use lotion. I always do it, so I did it in the shower." I muttered. I swear we were both blushing heavily, and one look over toward Elliot confirmed my suspicion.

"Well, I should probably go, they're, uh, waiting for me." I stated, grabbing my towels and lotion. "Wait, uh, I'm going to head up too, so I'll walk with you." Elliot said as he threw his towel into the hamper, I threw my towels into the hamper. before walking back over to grab my dirty clothes. I looked up at Elliot who made a 'lead the way' gesture. With a twirl I turned back around and walked to the door, opening it with little effort and stepping out into the hallway. Elliot followed me out into the hallway and over to the staircase. "So, Elliot, I was wondering, if I end up staying here permanently, what do you think will happen?" I asked. Elliot looked at me questioningly. "What do you mean 'if' you already are here, and for the future, well, I don't know, I uh, kind of want to spend more time with you. I really like you Emma, and you're really pretty. You're nice, and always so bubbly, you even love carrots." He stated. I'm not sure if I was blushing as hard as I had been earlier, but it was a close call. "I, um, really? You really think that about me?" I questioned as I stepped up the stairs. Elliot rubbed the back of his neck. "Well, yeah"

I smiled widely and put a hand on Elliot's chest, his skin warm beneath my fingers. I could do it, I could be flirty. Just watch how smooth I can be. "Well, if you really feel that then how about you ask me out?" I asked with a soft purr to my voice. Elliot put a hand over mine and held it gently. "Would you be my girlfriend, Emma?" Elliot asked. I nodded slowly and pressed further into him, a hug of sorts. I stood there for a little while, just feeling his warmth, and enjoying that I had managed to get a boyfriend. Eventually though I pulled away and turned to continue walking up the stairs, now with my fingers intertwined with Elliot's.

Well, that was not a scenario I had ever envisioned happening besides in my silliest and most outrageous daydreams. A guy I had known for about nine days in total, a guy I had already seen naked, though entirely by accident and only briefly, a guy with hare ears. It could make a girl's head spin at the very thought of how odd everything was. Truth be told I was just going out on a limb myself, Elliot was nice, funny, not to mention attractive, if I was going to enjoy myself while I was here why not go full out and date a guy I barely know.

When we reached the door to Elliot's room he turned and smiled at me sheepishly. "Well, see you later Emma" He stated. I nodded and squeezed his hand gently before pulling away. "See you later Elliot" I replied as I walked around him down toward my door. Opening the door brought a pillow hurling straight at my face. "Oh gosh Emma, I'm really sorry, we got bored and started playing." Lyssa said, apparently having been the target of the pillow. She stood from her crouched position and smoothed her nightgown.

Slowly I bent down and picked up the pillow, it had come off my bed, as did the other pillows scattered about. "Think fast" I yelled throwing a pillow at Rebecca. It hit her square in the chest. Lyssa laughed as we quickly got into a spirited game. Pillows flew through the air, battering each of us in turn. I was very glad to not have anything breakable in my room yet or we surely would have broken it. After we all got tired we collapsed on the bed, all laughter and smiles. I was definitely breathing heavily, out of breath from all the exercise. Not to mention the shouts of joy and shrieks of laughter.

"So, I may have done something I shouldn't have" I said after I got my breath back. Rebecca sat up and looked over at me. "Emma, what did you do?" She asked, slightly concerned. "Well, as of right before I walked into my room I am dating Elliot." I said softly. Lyssa gasped and hugged me. "Oh my gosh, really! That's so awesome!" She squealed. Rebecca, however, gave me her patented frown of disapproval. "Are you sure this is something you should be doing. I mean we haven't even been here for too long" She said. I sighed and curled up on the bed. "Elliot said he liked me and wanted to spend more time with me. He really good looking, he's nice to me, he's funny. I think it's fine." I replied. Rebecca sighed and fell back on the bed as well. "Well, I think we should go to sleep now. Remember, no use getting into fights if we're the only ones we know here." Lyssa said moving to turn off the lights. With a sigh I snuggled into the bed. Lyssa crawled into the center.

As much as I wanted to go to sleep I found that I couldn't. Maybe it was the fact that there were three girls sleeping in a queen sized bed, maybe it was some sort of nervous energy. Eventually, after I was sure the others were asleep, I climbed out of the bed and quietly made my way across the room over to the powder room. I opened the door and stepped in just as the door on the other side opened as well. Elliot stared at me for a bit before smiling awkwardly. "Hey" He whispered. "Hey, we need to work on our timing." I whispered back. He nodded. "Well, I guess you can go first." He stated. I shrugged. "I don't have to go that badly, I just couldn't sleep in there." I muttered. "Oh, too many bodies?" He asked. I shrugged again before nodding. "I guess yeah." I replied. "Well, I'm not using my bed right now, if you want to you can use it." I thought about the offer before nodding. "Sounds good to me" I walked closer to him and push on his chest. "You're blocking the door."

Elliot moves out of the way to let me into his room. My god that bed still looks amazing. "You're bed is huge" I muttered. "Yeah, well, go ahead and climb in, I'll be back in a bit." He said walking into the powder room. I explored the room, he had a desk in the corner that was covered with papers, He had heavy curtains that look so soft. There was a closet, but I didn't go into it. Slowly I made my way to the bed and sat on it. Who would think that he had such a soft bed. I fell over and rolled into the middle of his bed, sprawling out across it. Eventually I had to try and get under the covers.

After getting comfy the door reopened and Elliot walked back in. "You comfortable?" He asked. I nodded before realizing that he probably couldn't see me. "Yeah, you're bed is so soft Elliot" I muttered. "I'm glad you like it. Well, I have to do some more work so enjoy"

It didn't take long at all before I found myself falling asleep, completely comfortable and at ease in a nice warm bed.

"This world cannot hold more than one outsider." A voice called. I looked around but all I could see was blackness. "A decision must be made" another voice continued. "Once made the decision cannot be unmade" yet another voice said. " You will be the first to decide" A final voice finished.

I awoke softly, opening my eyes first to see the darkened room before me. Then I noticed the warmth that surrounded me. A weight, something was on my side and tickling my stomach. My whole back was warm, and my head was resting on something that was not, in fact, a pillow. My legs were tightly wrapped around something else. My right hand went down to explore what was on my side, while my left opted to find what I was resting my head on. A hand, and an arm. an arm was draped over me. On the other side, an arm as well. Had Elliot decided to use his bed while I was still sleeping in it? I guess he hadn't expected for us to get tangled up like this, which by the way. Reaching further I found that his leg was indeed what my thighs were wrapped tightly around.

Now a good person would try and untangle themselves before the other person noticed. A great person would forget it ever happened. I am neither of those, so I instead cuddled further into his embrace, making note of the fact that something was pressing against my ass. For a girl who had never had a boyfriend, well, a boyfriend of any real consequence as dating before the age of ten doesn't really count, this was something I had dreamed of. I mean, all girl dream about waking up in their boyfriend's arms, right? Now, yeah, of course I probably shouldn't be doing this seeing as we just started dating yesterday, or what passes as yesterday in this world. I however was quite curious to see what he would do with me pressed up to him, cuddled into his warm embrace.

My answer came only a few minutes later when Elliot stirred. His grip tightened before loosening. His attempt at pulling away was kind of amusing, see as I was laying on his arm. When he attempted to pull his leg away I held fast so he ended up just scooting me over a bit. After another minute of struggling to untangle himself and failing because he didn't want to wake me, he finally gave up and laid back down, pulling me tight. I smiled softly and sighed audibly. "Hi Elliot" I muttered. "Oh, you're awake, did I wake you?" He asked. Slowly I pulled my right leg up and off of his leg, letting him pull away his lower half. "Not really, I kinda woke up on my own." That statement is in all technicalities true. "Sorry for this, I got really tired, and I was pretty much done with my work, I didn't expect this to happen." He said now successfully pulling away.

I sat up and looked over at him. "Elliot, this is your bed, "You don't have to apologize for using your own bed. Besides, it takes two to cuddle, I did just as much as you did by cuddling into you." I replied looking down at him. He sat up quickly leaving me to look up at him. "Well, I should probably get back to work." Elliot said before leaning in to kiss my forehead. I nodded and decided to get out of bed. "I should probably head back over, the girls might be up already and wondering where I'm at." I stated, pulling myself up. I smiled at Elliot who smiled back, though rather sheepishly from what I could tell. "Well, I'll see you later Emma" He said. I waved goodbye and opened the powder room door. Once inside I decided to look myself over. I hadn't tossed and turned too much, seeing as my hair was still relatively in tact. With that I opened the door into my room and walked inside.

"Emma, where have you been?" Rebecca asked sternly. "In the powder room, where else would I have been, Narnia?" I asked with a raised eyebrow. "You don't take that long. I've been up for a good fifteen minutes." Rebecca retorted. Well shit, there goes that plan. "Okay, you caught me, I was in Narnia, Mister Tumnus says hi" I decided to walk over to my closet first, rather than over to the bed where Lyssa was still rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "Can we not fight so soon after waking up, I had the weirdest dream and I'd rather not" She stated. Hm, well that's a good enough subject to latch onto. "What kind of weird dream?" I asked as I started pulling out clothing bubblegum pink seemed like a good color for a dress today. So I grabbed my white stockings with pink bows at the top.

"Something about one outsider and a decision. Oh and that I was the second to decide" Lyssa stated. That floored me completely and one look over to Rebecca showed that she was just as shocked. "This world cannot hold more than one outsider. A decision must be made, once made the decision cannot be unmade, you must be the first to decide." I stated, trying my hardest to remember the exact words used but probably failing. Rebecca nodded slowly. "The third to decide" She stated. Okay so we each had pretty much the same dream, except for who decides when. That was pretty freaking weird. Okay, breath, and smile. I turned around with a pleasant grin on my face. "Hey, it's just a dream for now, nothing has happened yet. And when something does than we'll just deal with it. So, we're all outsiders, but the world can only hold one, clearly it's a decision to leave or stay, or something like that." I stated holding up my clothes. "Now come on, we should all get dressed.

Grudgingly Rebecca left to go get dressed and Lyssa left with her, she was probably going to borrow a t-shirt and a pair of shorts, even if both would be big on her. I locked my door and stripped off my night clothes. Lotion cam first, as it always did. Then came dressing in the clothing for the day. After that was done came the brushing of my hair, and styling it in any way. Today I went for simple and decided on a half updo. Then came the light touches of makeup. Powder, mascara, and lip gloss were all applied rather minimally. Once that was all done I unlocked my door and opened it to see Rebecca with her hand up, as if to knock. We all laughed at it before I decided to walk out into the hallway. "So, what did we have in mind for today?" I asked. Lyssa shrugged. "No clue yet, what about you?" She responded. Just as I was about to talk I noticed Blood and Elliot walk out of Elliot's room. "Ah, ladies, we were wondering if you'd like to accompany us while we do a few errands, of course you will be perfectly protected while in our company." Blood asked. I looked at the others before turning back to him. "Will we be going to the amusement park?" I questioned. "Yes" He replied. "Than yes"

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Anyway, reviews are appreciated, and it will in fact encourage me to write because every time I get a notification it let's me know that people care.


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